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Ninety Three - Victor Hugo

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Free Thinker

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  • 5 weeks later...
Hey where did u got the book? is it available as an e-book? if yes could you provide the information?

Paper Tiger books has a version. I believe it is "re-published" by them. For a more economical version, you might find well-thumbed, worn-out versions at Add All used books site. I found a few starting at $5.

Edited to add: Project Gutenberg has a few other Hugo translations online, but they have "Ninety-Three" only in French.

Edited by softwareNerd
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  • 3 weeks later...
Can you explain to me the scene in the begininning of the novel; in which while everyone is on the boat, a cannon breaks loose down below and forces them to land? Do you know what I am talking about?

That's an excellent scene. What do you want to know about it? It's purpose is to show the courage and leadership--and ruthlessness--of the Marquis de Lantenac. He rewarded the sailor for his courage in securing the loose cannon, and then punished him for his negligence, which led to the cannon's coming loose to begin with.

The royalist characters have spent the whole chapter commenting on the need for a leader with strength and without pity, and this scene shows they have found one.

Edited by Free Thinker
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How did the cannon cause the ship to land? I didn't understand what happened.

Oh, well the ship didn't actually land. It needed to because the cannon had knocked several holes in its sides, and the waves were high, causing it to take on water.

But before the Claymore could even think about landing, they were caught between some reefs and a French fleet, and had to go down fighting, which they did. But the Marquis de Lantenac was saved by putting him on a small rowboat with one sailor to row him in to shore while the battle raged.

Of course, with Hugo it is never that simple. The sailor rowing Lantenac to shore turned out to be the brother of the man who had been responsible for the cannon running wild on the Claymore.

And Lantenac had just had that man shot.

Edited by Free Thinker
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  • 4 months later...

So, I stopped reading 93 (the Lowell Blair translation) a while ago just because I wasn't enjoying it. Well, about a week ago I acquired a set of his books, but with a different translation (Nelson and Sons). I was understandably skeptical, but as I began reading, I was sucked in. It was like I was reading an entirely new book. The scene with the cannon still wasn't convincing ( :P ) , but damn, it was powerful. I will post a sample from each translation to illustrate this. If you are new to Hugo, try and find this translation. It is absolutely stunning.

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Has anyone read Victor Hugo's "Ninety Three"? I have read half of "Les Mis", and was blown away by it, but so far "93" isn't very impressive.

I enjoyed most of it but Hugo ethics are dire and the ending had me raging. :dough:

It didn't help that the translation of the scene that Ayn Rand quotes from was different than the one she read. :P

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Ninety-Three wasn't my fav Hugo book, but it's good nonetheless. IMO

Toilers of the Sea > Les Miserables > The Man Who Laughs > Ninety-Three

It's been too long since I read Hunchback, so I'm not considering that. And I think there is a book or two of his that I haven't seen yet...

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Ninety-Three wasn't my fav Hugo book, but it's good nonetheless. IMO

Toilers of the Sea > Les Miserables > The Man Who Laughs > Ninety-Three

It's been too long since I read Hunchback, so I'm not considering that. And I think there is a book or two of his that I haven't seen yet...

Oh, there are tons. "Hans of Iceland", "History of a Crime"...in fact:

Published during Hugo's lifetime

Nouvelles Odes (1824)

Bug-Jargal (1826)

Odes et Ballades (1826)

Cromwell (1827)

Les Orientales (1829)

Le Dernier jour d'un condamné (1829)

Hernani (1830)

Marion Delorme (1831)

Les Feuilles d'automne (Autumn Leaves) (1831)

Le roi s'amuse (1832)

Lucrèce Borgia Lucrezia Borgia (1833)

Marie Tudor (1833)

Étude sur Mirabeau (1834)

Littérature et philosophie mêlées (1834)

Claude Gueux (1834)

Angelo (1835)

Les Chants du crépuscule (1835)

Les Voix intérieures (1837)

Ruy Blas (1838)

Les Rayons et les ombres (1840)

Le Rhin (1842)

Les Burgraves (1843)

Napoléon le Petit (1852)

Les Châtiments (1853)

Lettres à Louis Bonaparte (1855)

Les Contemplations (1856)

La Légende des siècles (1859)

Les Misérables (1862), (on which the very successful musical of the same name is based)

William Shakespeare (essay) (1864)

Les Chansons des rues et des bois (1865)

Les Travailleurs de la Mer (1866), (Toilers of the Sea)

Paris-Guide (1867)

L'Homme qui rit (1869), (The Man Who Laughs)

L'Année terrible (1872)

Quatre-vingt-treize (Ninety-Three) (1874)

Mes Fils (1874)

Actes et paroles — Avant l'exil (1875)

Actes et paroles - Pendant l'exil (1875)

Actes et paroles - Depuis l'exil (1876)

La Légende des Siècles 2e série (1877)

L'Art d'être grand-père (1877)

Le Pape (1878)

Religions et religion (1880)

L'Âne (1880)

Les Quatres vents de l'esprit (1881)

Torquemada (1882)

La Légende des siècles Tome III (1883)

L'Archipel de la Manche (1883)

[edit]

Published posthumously

Théâtre en liberté (1886)

La fin de Satan (1886)

Choses vues - 1re série (1887)

Toute la lyre (1888)

Alpes et Pyrénées (1890)

Dieu (1891)

France et Belgique (1892)

Toute la lyre - nouvelle série (1893)

Correspondances - Tome I (1896)

Correspondances - Tome II (1898)

Les années funestes (1898)

Choses vues - 2e série (1900)

Post-scriptum de ma vie (1901)

Dernière Gerbe (1902)

Mille francs de récompense (1934)

Océan. Tas de pierres (1942)

Pierres (1951)

(Wiki)

Edited by Free Thinker
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  • 5 months later...
Oh, there are tons. "Hans of Iceland", "History of a Crime"...in fact:

Published during Hugo's lifetime

Nouvelles Odes (1824)

..........

Pierres (1951)

(Wiki)

Yeah...but good luck finding most of those in english. I have honestly considered learning french just to read his other books. I have read Toilers of the Sea, Les Mis, 93, Man Who Laughs, Hunchback, and Hans of Iceland but the rest I have been unable to find even in used book stores(a lot of them). Has anyone else come accross Hugo collections which are more complete, online or otherwise?

(semi-spoilor)

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Toilers of the Sea is my favorite as well. If you read it, though, I recommend stopping 30 pages from the end and then creating your own ending for it. That way you avoid the worst of Hugos well known malevolent universe premise.

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